The invention relates to a training projectile whose strike point on a target or target area is optically marked.
It is important in projectiles which themselves possess no live explosive charge to make the strike point visible so that optimum training results, and subsequently optimum live-fire training results, are achieved.
Projectiles of the type discussed here are, for example, medium-caliber projectiles of 40 mm that are used individually or are mounted in a feed belt, and are fired in series from a rapid-fire weapon. Likewise, a dropped bomb, grenade launcher, trench mortar or similar may be simulated.
Projectiles are known that include a hollow arched cavity or cap at their head that bursts upon striking a target, and into which a marking material, for example a reddish dye powder, has been inserted that is released upon bursting of the arched cavity when the projectile strikes the target. The dye material is hereby scattered for a fixed radius about the strike point and is also scattered by wind, and clearly designates the strike point optically.
In this training projectile, the dye powder at the strike point on the target is visible optically only during daylight, and not under darkness. Also, dye powders cannot be clearly distinguished under severe weather conditions.
Along with marking by means of a chemically-inactive dye powder, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,211 B1, for example, to use several chemically-interactive components as a marking material that are inserted into the arched cavity in two or more separated containers. When the containers break, the components mix together and create chemo-luminescence in a chemical reaction, i.e., an optical light effect that is also visible in darkness.
Both solutions are unsatisfactory since, depending on the time of day and weather conditions, several types of projectiles must be made available.